The latest on California politics and government

February 19, 2014

Neel Kashkari finished the first segment of an interview on KFBK radio in Sacramento on Wednesday when a producer bounded into the studio, having just hit the "dump" button to keep a comment Kashkari made off the air.

"We don't cuss on the air," the producer, Julie Kingsley, told the Republican candidate for governor.

Kashkari, a former U.S. Treasury Department official, was asked about his time running the federal bank bailout known as the Troubled Asset Relief Program when he described himself as "the guy you send in when, pardon me, the s--- is hitting the fan."

The host, former Sacramento County Sheriff John McGinness, asked Kinglsey, "Did you catch that?"

She did, and Kashkari apologized repeatedly.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he told Kingsley. "I'm sorry about that."

Kinglsey said she hesitated briefly before dumping the comment. She said "I wouldn't expect it from a gubernatorial candidate," and she told Kashkari, "You should know better than that."

The incumbent governor, Jerry Brown, has used the same language on rare occasions, and there was chuckling in the studio at the break.

The interview continued. Afterward, Kashkari held his arms apart and assessed his performance.

"Second segment," he said. "No swearing."

PHOTO: Neel Kashkari prepares for an interview at KFBK radio in Sacramento on Feb. 19, 2014. The Sacramento Bee/David Siders